Whippersnapper: Battle with Bigfoot turns into life-and-death contest

Sunday

Jan 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By PAUL LOCHER

Staff Writer

CONGRESS TWP. -- Adam Poe had been frantically searching the woods along the Ohio River for his brother, or some trace of the marauding Indians he knew Andrew had been tracking. The rifle shot he had heard minutes earlier told him his brother was in trouble, having been perhaps injured or even killed.

But from the deep water of the river where he was struggling, Andrew began calling out for his younger brother, yelling at him to shoot Bigfoot before the Indian could fire on the exhausted frontiersman.

At this point, Adam and Bigfoot were only yards apart, in easy range of one another, but like Bigfoot's, Adam's rifle was also empty because he had found himself in a wicked fight minutes earlier with other members of the Indian raiding party that had abducted a settler.

It now became a life-and-death contest to see which of the two combatants could load their rifle the quickest and get off a fatal shot.

Adam Poe was known as one of the fastest rifle loaders on the frontier. Historical accounts say he carried his powder horn on a leather thong around his neck, so that it would be closer to the barrel opening when the rifle was stood on end for loading.

In addition, Adam was said to carry rifle balls in his mouth so he could simply spit them down the barrel of his rifle, rather than extracting them from a pouch hung at his side.

Whatever the case, both the Indian and frontiersman were experts with their weapons, and after dumping gunpowder down the barrels and inserting a ball into each muzzle, both drew their ramrods.

Luck was on Adam's side, and in his agitation Bigfoot lost control of his ramrod as it came out of the thimbles, causing it to fall and land a short distance away. And while the Indian recovered the rod almost instantaneously, the fumble proved to be a fatal one.

Adam completed his loading and swung his aim on Bigfoot, just as the Indian was in the act of drawing his rifle on him.

Adam fired first, shooting Bigfoot through the body. The critically wounded warrior staggered out into deep water and collapsed into the swift-moving current and his body was carried off.

Having disposed of Bigfoot, Adam turned his attention to his severely wounded brother. He jumped into the river and swam to Andrew's aid, but Andrew struggled with Adam, telling him to retrieve Bigfoot's body because he wanted to take the scalp of the notorious chief. Adam, however, was intent on dragging his severely injured brother to the shore.

Neither of the brothers could have anticipated what would happen next.

Sources: "History of Wayne County, Ohio" by Ben Douglass; "Titans of the Wilderness: Bigfoot and Adam Poe" by James R. Warren; Wikipedia

Monday: Victory comes at a cost

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or plocher@the-daily-record.com.